Wake Up Alone
by VampirePam
Summary: Waking up in the Hospital Wing after a particularly rough transformation, Remus did not expect to find Sirius watching him from the adjacent bed.


Remus shifted a little and immediately regretted it. His side felt like it had been on the losing side of an altercation with the Whomping Willow, and his head wasn't faring much better. Going immediately back to sleep seemed an attractive prospect...that is until an all-too-familiar voice floated through the fog of ache. "Moaning a little, are we, Moony?"

He forced himself to roll over in the direction of the voice and open his eyes. The bright sunlight streaming through the arched, Gothic windows of the Hospital Wing had him snapping them nearly shut again.

There was a whisper of _Umbra _and the light level in the room dimmed to a warm glow. "Sirius?" His voice was rough, his throat raw - clearly this month's outing had been a howling-filled one.

He had just started to contemplate how much effort would be involved in obtaining a glass of water when a goblet filled with clear liquid began to dance its way toward him. It then bowed and deposited itself on the table beside his bed. Remus smiled.

"Glad your powers of observation aren't in also recovery," quipped the occupant of the adjacent bed. "Now drink up. Can't having you damaging that sexy voice of yours. Merlin knows what sort of trouble we'd get into if you couldn't scold us."

Remus rolled his eyes, but gladly raised the goblet to his lips and let the cool water run down his parched throat. This allowed him an opportunity to regard his companion more closely: no one but Sirius could look so nonchalantly _cool_ while lounging in a hospital bed. Remus wasn't sure if he loved or hated him for it - especially factoring in the certain knowledge that he himself must look like he'd been run over by the Hogwarts Express.

When he'd drained the contents of the goblet, Remus risked talking again to ask, "How did you even get in here? I thought Madam Pomfrey cut off your visiting privileges after -" He stopped dead as some pertinent details sunk in. Sirius wasn't on top of the sheets, he was _under _them. And even the smug smirk he was sporting couldn't hide the pallor of his face.

Remus felt his stomach plummet. _Please, no. Please, God, no. _Ignoring the little voice in his head muttering that it was _not _a good idea, Remus scrambled out of the bed, only to find himself sprawled on the floor, a tangled mess of bedsheets and bruises.

"Merlin's beard, Remus, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Sirius extracted himself much more successfully and knelt to untangle Remus from the prison of his own making. "I thought I was supposed to be the rash one."

Remus' hands roamed frantically over Sirius' body, searching for scratches, bite marks, wounds of any kind. He continued to search until Sirius' hands caught his and stilled them. "Hey," Sirius asked, his tone uncharacteristically grave, "what's going on?"

"Did I..." Remus swallowed hard, almost too terrified of the answer to finish asking the question, "Did I hurt you?"

"What?" Pure confusion flitted over Sirius' features, before realization softened them again. "No! God, no, Remus." He cupped Remus' face with his hands and met his gaze. "I swear on the Map, you didn't touch me."

Remus exhaled forcibly enough to propel himself toward Sirius, and he let himself fall. Hand twisting in the the crimson lining of Sirius' robes, he muttered a relieved, "Thank God."

"You can thank _yourself_, Remus," Sirius said, his voice humming with quiet fervor. He wrapped his right hand protectively around Remus' shoulders and began carding the left through his hair. "You'd never hurt me. _I_ know that. I wish you did."

Remus nestled a little closer, content to remain there for as long as fate or magic would keep Madam Pomfrey away. It took a good five minutes for the thought to intrude. "Sirius," he said, reluctantly leaning back, "what _are _you in here for?"

Sirius looked at him for a good, long moment. "If I promise to tell you, will you let me help you back into bed?"

Remus nodded and nearly laughed. Sirius always had demonstrated a special talent for extortion. As he wrapped his arms tighter around Sirius' neck and allowed himself to be maneuvered into a standing position, Remus murmured in Sirius' ear, "I can't believe you didn't turn that into a come on. You must have been really worried."

He yelped when Sirius palmed his ass. "Rest assured it was a struggle. Now, come on, no more stalling, in with you."

Remus slid obediently into the bed before glancing in expectation at Sirius. Sirius positioned himself on the edge of his bed and started, "Now, you have to promise not to be cross."

"I promise no such thing." Remus sighed and demanded, "Sirius, what did you _do_?"

"Oh, relax." Sirius shifted his attention to examining the intricately carved ceiling. "It was only a garden variety Vomiting Curse."

"Sirius!" Remus exclaimed, forcing himself into a sitting position on the bed. "Please tell me you did _not _cast a Vomiting Curse on yourself just so you could see me in here."

"No." Sirius laughed, as if the mere idea were ridiculous. "...I had James do it!"

"Of course you did." Remus threw up his hands, then winced at the shooting pains the sudden movement sent up his side.

Sirius ran a hand up and down Remus' arm, pausing to tangle their fingers together. His gaze flitted over Remus appraisingly, before he gave him a gentle shove to the left. "Shove over, then."

Remus thought briefly of refusing him in the name of their mutual recoveries, but his willpower definitely wasn't that strong. He gingerly shifted enough to make space for Sirius, all the while wishing that he'd paid more attention when they were doing enlarging in Charms (this was what he got for sitting between James and Sirius).

Sirius carefully propped himself up on one elbow and slid his other arm across Remus' waist until his hand was splayed across his hip bone. His fingers absently traced small circles on Remus' side as he said, "I'll admit it wasn't my most brilliant idea. I just...didn't want you to wake up alone."

Remus wished he knew what kind of magic it would take to bottle the feeling that was rushing in a torrent through his body. He muttered a quick spell of concealment before reaching up to brush back a few loose strands of dark hair from Sirius' forehead. "Just so we're on the same page, I intend to kiss you, Sirius Black, Vomiting Curse or no."

A familiar, sharp grin spread over Sirius' face. "Well, Remus, if that's what the doctor ordered..." He pivoted and leaned down enough for Remus' lips to meet his halfway.

And if the natural properties of the Hospital Wing rendered all concealment magic null and void, well, Madam Pomfrey would keep that as her little secret.


End file.
